Variations on a Theme

I was inspired by several challenges to pull out four different hydrangea stamps to create a few cards. I have three finished, and it turned out to be a rather educational experience. The biggest challenge was completely my doing. I intended to watercolor the images, but when I stamped them I used Neenah 80#. It actually turned out alright but I’ll wait on the last challenge until I redo the stamp with watercolor paper. All the images were cut with my Cut-N-Scan which I purchased over the winter holidays. It has proven to be a great purchase. I don’t own any of these dies and the Cut-N-Scan actually does a better job than I sometimes do with a manufactured die. I was unaware of the Cut-N-Scan until I started watching videos using the Silhouette and the Cricut. The Cut-N-Scan is very user friendly, and although I’ve yet to explore all the possibilities with it, I’m quite happy with it’s scan and cut abilities. I can do sentiments as well as images. In this case, I die cut all the images before watercoloring them. 

The next challenge was finding appropriate colors. I stuck to the current colors on the Color Throwdown Challenge: pink, purple, and green. I was also interested in playing along with Just Us Girls where the challenge is Pastels. The colors for the Color Throwdown Challenge are much more vibrant, so I toned it down for the JUGS Challenge. I’m also sending one of these to Triple B: Birds, Butterflies, and Blooms. 

In order to come up with some different pinks and purples, I used three different mediums. I often use the Altenew 36 Pan watercolor set as well as my Zig Watercolor markers, but this time I also pulled out a set of Lyra Aquacolor crayons which I’ve probably owned for 20+ years. I can’t remember the last time I used them. It’s easy to see how different the colors are in each example.

So, finally, here are the cards!

For Color Throwdown I used the Gina K  Heartfelt Hydrangea and The Ton’s Easy Expressions: Birthday. I used the Zig Watercolor markers. The label on the pink markers says “light pink” but it is surely glowing against the purple.

I used a Dick Blick premade scalloped oval that I embossed with the Dotted Lattice embossing folder from Taylored Expressions. I used some dimensional tape on the sentiment and added a few gold pearls.

The pastels for the JUGS challenge were done with the Altenew 36 pan watercolor set. To deepen the colors a bit, I applied one light coat, let it dry and then added a second coat of watercolor. I mounted it on two Reverse Confette Pierced Rounded Top dies and used a beautiful sentiment from Gina K’s Sweet Sentiments.

The only embellishment were a few purplish pink enamel dots. I also used some dimensional tape to pop up the floral arrangement.

Finally, the hydrangeas colored with the Lyra Aquacolor crayons. Several months ago, I added The Greetery’s Arched Sentiments to my order. I already owned Ellen Hutson’s Essential Arches and wondered if The Greetery’s sentiments would work with them. Indeed, they do, and this is their inaugural debut! I stamped a birthday greeting from The Greetery’s Sentiment Suite: Birthday set in the middle of the arch and then added a series of arches and frames before adding the flowers.

I found the florals in a very old Papertrey Ink set, Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers. I’ve always loved the Friendship Jar sets, but it’s been a long time since the summer fillers made an appearance, and I’m quite sure I’ve never used the hydrangeas. This one is off to the Triple B Challenge.

Well, that was one long post, and if you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with me!